


Sloth

by evilleaper



Series: 7 deadly sins [4]
Category: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: 7 Deadly Sins, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-09
Updated: 2013-07-09
Packaged: 2017-12-18 05:37:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/876219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilleaper/pseuds/evilleaper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There will always be exceptions to the truth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sloth

Having taken up the unofficial responsibility of recording the exploits of the world's only consulting detective I have at all times endeavoured to provide an accurate testimony of my friend's life. 

There are a few necessary exceptions of course. 

Holmes has on occasion accused me of romanticising the details of his less than savoury cases, but as I have reminded him, there are some things the reading public does not wish, or need to know. 

Amongst my most dedicated reader's petty thieves and adulterers fall into a certain accepted class, whereas cold-blooded murderers and those who prey upon the weak and innocent to satisfy their own depraved ends are another matter entirely. 

In many regards I have also applied the same manner of classifying Holmes's personal habits as I have his dealings with London's criminal types when I set pen to paper. My friend will sometimes scoff at the distinctions I make, but that is all. 

Sherlock Holmes may be many things, but foolhardy about his reputation, he is not. In the absence of a wife or other suitable substitute the duty of protecting his good name has been passed to me. It is an arrangement that I have found both rewarding and frustrating in the extreme, but for reasons too private to specify, cannot escape. Nor should I say, would I ever want to. 

The world knows Holmes as a master of deduction, a man of singular intellect, a brain without a heart. Not the individual who would stay abed for days on end without attending the many requests for his help he receives or even his own toilet until threats to withhold conversation and in extreme cases, intimacy, are finally taken to heart. 

No, the public are not privy to his true nature for that same reason they are not exposed to the horrors that in many cases are lurking right outside their very doors. 

To some ignorance is bliss, or at least more conducive to a peaceful and undisturbed existence than knowing that the man who has become a hero to many is not always the refined English gentleman he is portrayed to be. Indeed I am aware that the truth would serve only the criminals Holmes has worked tirelessly to apprehend and harm those he has sworn to protect. 

For myself, sharing all of what I know would be equivalent to betrayal and the breaking of my vow to always love and honour the man known to the world as Sherlock Holmes. 

End

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet was written for the 7 deadly sins community on live journal. Sloth is prompt #4. Please keep in mind that it is unbetaed and contains Australian spelling. If you find a mistake then please feel free to point it out to me.
> 
> Not new, just new to AO3


End file.
